Dangerous DIY baby formula recipes go viral as US faces shortage

NEW YORK • As a nationwide baby formula shortage in the United States sends parents into crisis mode, social media posts containing dangerous misinformation about homemade formula recipes have gone viral online, racking up views in the millions.

Although major networks such as Facebook, TikTok and YouTube have taken steps to label photos, videos and posts with contextual information pointing to the harms of such recipes, and in some cases removed them, they have done so inconsistently, allowing the advice to continue spreading and putting children at risk.

"Platforms still haven't learnt the lesson that their obsession with engagement is leading them to recommend wildly unsafe content," said Ms Laura Edelson, a computer scientist studying misinformation at New York University. "The fact that they still have not fixed this issue after years of very clear evidence that their algorithms are promoting dangerous content is shocking."

Scant availability of infant formula has been a problem for months because of supply-chain disruptions that have affected consumers across major industries, from cars to appliances.

But after Abbott Laboratories' nutrition unit recalled some of its products earlier this year, including its top-selling brand Similac, stockpiles were further depleted, leading parents to try anything - driving for hours to stores that might have stock, or bartering in Facebook groups - to get their babies fed.

Last Wednesday, US President Joe Biden took urgent action to address the crisis, invoking the Defence Production Act to increase production and instructing Defence Department planes to speed formula shipments into the country from overseas.

Yet despite Mr Biden's action, companies are warning that the shortages could affect consumers for months.

Parents are turning to the Internet for solutions and alternatives, but medical experts agree that homemade versions of baby formula come with serious health risks.

The US Food and Drug Administration and the American Academy of Paediatrics issued warnings stating that parents should not make their own infant formula because of the dangers associated with a lack of nutrients in them.

Both YouTube and TikTok said they removed videos Bloomberg flagged. YouTube said content that "promotes, sells or provides instructions for homemade baby formula" is in violation of its harmful and dangerous content policies.

TikTok said it would continue looking for similar problematic content.

Twitter, when shown examples by Bloomberg, said they did not violate its misinformation policies, which apply to manipulated media, elections, Covid-19 and crises, such as the Buffalo shooting.

But Twitter said it would re-examine its approach as the public conversation evolves.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said it partners a network of third-party fact checkers who rated claims about the baby formula shortage.

Once posts have been fact checked, they appear with warning labels in Facebook's feed and fewer people see them, a Meta spokesman said.

Dr Steven Abrams, a paediatrician at the University of Texas in Austin, said the lack of absorbable nutrients in homemade formula poses a risk of seizures in infants, and inadequate iron risks anaemia and developmental delays. Improper preparation is also a danger, he said.

"This is a public health crisis," said Ms Melissa Ryan, chief executive officer of Card Strategies, a consulting firm that researches disinformation. "But the tech companies aren't treating it like one at all."

BLOOMBERG